The plaintiff claimed damages for breach of contract and obtained summary judgment. After a 15 day hearing on the assessment of damages the plaintiffs were awarded andpound;2. The defendant had not paid money into court and the assessor considered the plaintiff to be the successful party and awarded the plaintiffs their costs.
Held: The appeal was allowed. The consequence of the summary judgment was that the plaintiffs were entitled at least to nominal damages and the actual issue between the parties at the hearing was whether the plaintiffs were entitled to more than nominal damages and on that issue the defendant has succeeded. Further it was found that a payment into court of andpound;2 would not have been accepted by the plaintiffs and would not have made any difference to the proceedings so it was wrong to hold that the absence of a payment into court made the plaintiffs the successful party.
Citations:
[1984] 1 All ER 685
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Litigation Practice
Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.219700